


As it crumbled

by Bookluva



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 00:25:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13042680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookluva/pseuds/Bookluva
Summary: During the season three finale all Qrow wanted to do was make sure his family was safe.





	As it crumbled

The air was filled with screams and fire; smoke coiling around, choking any it could find.  Swinging his scythe Qrow decapitated another beowolf, spinning around and continuing towards Beacon tower. Glynda had sent him further into Beacon to evacuate anyone who was still there. With the dragon circling the tower and dropping grimm any students still fighting would soon be overrun.

Ducking the swipe of an ursa he retaliated by cleaving it in half. He kept running, his heart pounding.  He didn’t know where Ozpin was, nor where his nieces where. Knowing Yang and Ruby they would be in the thick of it. And while they were certainly talented, they were only first years.  Young and inexperienced in fighting the monsters that plagued their world, it would be all too easy for the creatures of grimm to get to them. Even now they could be surrounded, could be dying. The thought made something cloying and dark swirl inside. _He couldn’t lose them._

Yang. The blond teenager was a perfect mix of Taiyang and Raven. The little firecracker never failed to infuse any room with spirit. Hot headed but filled with such a zest for life, she was always getting into trouble. Both legal and illegal. He’d heard what had happened at Juniors earlier in the year.

 And Ruby. The physical embodiment of Summer.  His little Rosebud was so similar to her mother in so many ways that sometimes he had to catch his breath when looking at her. Yet, she was her own person.  Spirited and energetic in a pure juxtaposition compared to Summers calm demeanour. But she was so filled with joy that she never failed to bring a smile to those around her. Yet she shared her mother’s shy nature, and desire to help others. He had been utterly unsurprised when Oz told him that she had made team leader. She was just like Summer in that regard. Able to take charge and inspire greatness in those around her. He could not let her share the same fate as her mother.

A deafening screech from up ahead caused him to look up, horror flooding through him as the top of the tower collapsed. He could make out the figure of someone covered in flame, and he knew in that instant that their plans had failed. Amber’s attacker had the Fall Maidens powers. He kept on running, though the dark part of his mind whispered that if she had the Maiden’s powers then Oz had to have failed. There was no way the enigmatic man would have let her escape without a fight.

Clashing sounds up ahead drew his attention and he saw a small figure in white clashing with the grimm around her at the base of the tower. She was fighting valiantly but looked exhausted. It would not be long before the teenager was overrun. He recognised Winter’s little sister, Ruby’s partner and felt an icy shard of dread slip down his throat into his stomach. Ruby would not leave her partner alone in that state. Not unless she absolutely had to.

Dashing forward he sliced into the creep behind her. Weiss turned at the sound, a breath of relief escaping her as she recognised the trained hunter. Side by side the two continued to battle the encroaching grimm.

‘What’s going on? Where’s Yang and Ruby?’ Qrow called out, aiding his strength to a block an attack by a beowolf aimed at the white haired girl.

‘Yang is with the others. We all were told to retreat, they were evacuating everyone when Ruby and I left.’ Weiss responded, her tone shaky.

‘Qrow,’ the heiress hesitated, faltering slightly under the piercing red gaze as he glanced away from the surrounding grimm. ‘It’s Yang. She’s hurt. They managed to stop the bleeding before we left, but…She was helping Blake, her partner fight the White Fang, when one.’ She took a deep breath. ‘One of them cut off her arm.’

For a split second Qrow felt as though the world froze. Memories of Yang as a bubbly little girl flashed across his vision. From the day she was brought home from the hospital, Tai and Summer teaching her how to walk, the bright grin and smiling purple eyes as they observed Ruby for the first time; how she would always light up whenever she saw him. Only the roar of an attacking grimm brought him back to the present. This would devastate Yang, but he would be useless in helping his niece recover if he couldn’t survive this attack.

‘And Ruby?’ He growled, the influx of emotions threatening to trap the words in his throat.

‘Up the tower. We were looking for our friends who were still here. We were the least hurt out of all of us. But Jaune called saying Pyrrha went off to fight the one responsible for this attack. So Ruby,’ Weiss heaved a breath, slicing her rapier through the creep closest to her. ‘So Ruby just went up the tower to help.’

For a second time he felt his world shatter. There was no way that Ruby would be able to defeat that woman, not while she had the Fall Maiden’s powers. But just as he readied himself, about to launch himself up into the air, desperate to reach his niece, to help, to protect her, he heard a scream. Ruby’s scream.

Weiss and Qrow both reflexively looked up towards the source of the noise only to have to shield their eyes against the blindingly white light that emanated from the top of the wrecked tower.  As he leaned over, wrapping Weiss protectively in his arms to shield her as much as possible he heard the screeching death cries of multitudes of grimm. His heart was pounding frantically, every fibre of his being screaming at him to get to Ruby but he couldn’t move. He knew that light. He’d seen it before. The light finally faded after a minute, and Qrow looked up, unwrapping Weiss and staring around in amazement. Where there had been seemingly unending numbers of grimm before there was nothing. They were all gone, destroyed by the devastating power held within the small body of Summer’s little girl.

Looking toward the tower, he saw the monolithic shape of the monstrous grimm still perched on the top of the tower. _Ruby_. That thing was big enough to swallow her in one gulp. He placed his hands firmly onto Weiss’ small shoulders, looking dead straight into the young girls eyes.

‘I’m going up there. I’m going to get Ruby and Pyrrha. But I need you to stay here alright? I’ll be back as soon as possible. Kill anything that comes near you.’

‘But – ‘

‘Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’

He nodded and slipped his sword back onto his back, crouched down and launched himself into the air, his bird form catapulting him up to the top of the tower. The air up there was swirling with dust.

Transforming, he quickly unsheathed his sword, prepared for any attack as his eyes flickered over the area, desperately searching for the tell-tale flash of red signifying his niece. But nothing moved. He couldn’t see her. Turning his head as he stepped around a shattered gear he came face to face with the mythical grimm, its face set in a snarl. But it didn’t move. It was frozen solid, its black form turned grey as stone. Ruby’s doing.

Stepping closer to the centre, he moved cautiously around the shattered cogs when out of the corner of his eye he spotted it. Ruby’s cloak was lying down on the ground, pooled like blood around her small body. Hesitation gone he raced forward falling to his knees next to her sprawled form. Gently, his heart in his throat he turned her around, lifting her lithe body until it was in his lap. But she didn’t stir. Placing his hand to her throat he prayed to the gods he’d never believed in, desperately hoping that the little girl didn’t pay the price for his and Ozpin’s mistakes. For a second there was nothing. But then, a beat. Weak but steady it was there and the world around him righted itself. Unconscious, she was simply unconscious.

He wrapped her up tighter in his arms, relief flooding through him. Glancing around he saw no one else, evidently Amber’s attacker had fled at the show of power. Cradling the little girl in his arms, he headed to a gap in the rubble that looked like a promising exit to bring Ruby down, muttering reassurances all the while.

“It’s all right. I gotcha kiddo. I gotcha.”


End file.
